MP forest guard alleges attempted rape on wife by BJP men

BHOPAL: It was high drama in the state Congress office here on Wednesday evening when PCC chief Kantilal Bhuria called a press conference and presented before the media a uniformed forest guard from the scheduled tribe community who claimed that BJP men attempted to rape his wife. The man is a state government employee, working for the forest department.

Nine months before the assembly polls, the Congress alleged that there was a total collapse in the law and order situation in the state and even families of government employees were not safe. There is total jungle raj in Madhya Pradesh,'' Kantilal Bhuria said.

The forest guard said he has been posted in the Beetpatni forest area in Sehore district where he has been working for more than two years. On February 2, three men Iqbal Haji, Bane Singh Parmar and Sautantra Singh Parmar knocked on the door of my house,'' the forest guard said. He and his family reside in the state government quarters meant for forest department employees.

Haji knocked on the door. When my wife refused to open up, he started abusing her from outside. I was in the house and came out after which the men started an altercation with me. They were armed with a revolver and so I went in and got my sword. Seeing that I was home and armed too, they went away,'' the man said.

Next day, the three miscreants came back when my wife was alone with our infant son. They attempted to rape her but neighbours gathered and intervened. I came rushing back from work and went to the local police station to lodge a complaint,'' the forest guard recalled. He said that the local Bilkiskin police station refused to register the complaint and he was sent to the SC/ST police station in Jhagariya. Though the complaint was registered, no action has been taken against the culprits till date.

The forest guard, however, failed to explain how the three miscreants were connected to the BJP or why they barged into his house on February 2 if they did not know the family from before. Congress says that the woman in question is beautiful and these men went with the intention of raping her. The victim woman's husband says they are former members of the village panchayat. But the unanswered question here is: On the first day when Iqbal Haji knocked on the door, why did the woman refuse to open-up when her husband was inside the house? Was there a previous issue between Iqbal and the family?

Why would three men who had no previous dispute or no prior association with the victim or her husband just target a forest department employee's wife? Congress explained that there is a total law and order failure and miscreants are not afraid of police action, specially those connected with the ruling party.